Head On Collision
by luminous carte
Summary: An infamous bus stop meeting leaves Kairi regretting and Yuffie crashing head first into a concrete wall, figuratively of course. YK RS
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

Head On Collision

Chapter One

The neon lights illuminated the otherwise bland blue roof of the bus stop. Large, blue plastic benches lined the inside of the bus stop shelter.

Sitting in one of the benches, her face pressed against the glass windows overlooking the neon lighted streets was Kairi. With medium length auburn hair and a small, pointed nose, Kairi could easily be called attractive.

But not right now.

She sat with old gym sweatpants and a large maroon sweatshirt. She smoothed her hair back, pulling back the hair that had escaped her ponytail. Feeling fat and deciding that she was in need of exercise, she thought it was reasonable to run to the nearest open liquor store for some Pepsi and a few pastries.

After running down six blocks to get here, Kairi gave up running back and instead decided on catching the last bus. The dinner from this afternoon was starting to retaliate when, running to the bus shelter, a dull ache on her side caused her to breath in sharply.

So much for exercise.

She had been waiting for the bus for the last ten minutes. She checked her watch. It read seven o'clock. She stood up, leaning against the bust stop sign, still holding her side and trying to catch her breath.

Kairi didn't know if the bus did run by at this time of night. She didn't know much about Japan in general. She had been visiting Japan for the last week or so. Everyone said it was the perfect place to relax. So far, all she's felt was nonstop hunger and an overwhelming feeling that she might be gaining too much weight. She leant her weight against the side of the bus stop and contemplated maybe just running back home. If she had ran in the first place she'd probably be in her warm room already.

Kairi groaned and looked up at the sky. She just had the worst luck in the world, didn't she?

Just three weeks ago, Kairi had a nice paying job, a secluded, beautiful apartment, and not a care in the world, well, mostly not a care in the world. Then, her office started laying people off one by one, the company unable to support itself any longer due to lack of funds and supporters pulling out.

Kairi should have expected to be fired. She even coached her reaction in front of a mirror. But when the vice president had called her into his office, Kairi was already hoping against it.

The many days and nights spent outside her apartment complex, sitting on the swaying bench just below her window, were depressing. Her only comfort was a Snickers bar and the sound of the rain pitter-pattering against the red shingles on the roof.

When she had resorted to alcohol to drown her sorrows, forsaking the Snickers bar routine, Kairi knew she had a problem and needed help. But it just seemed that companies weren't hiring and jobs had reduced as the years had gone by. When she had graduated college, jobs were opening left and right. Now, it was close to extinct. Damn population problem.

A light, nonetheless, shone down on Kairi's poor forsaken form. A friend from Japan was returning home and he had offered to bring Kairi along.

Sora was Kairi's friend who attended her university to study abroad. They became close friends quickly and now, sensing his friend's sudden depression he insisted Kairi come with him to Japan for a few weeks. He even paid for her ticket to and back. And when Sora "insisted" Kairi come with him, that meant Sora up and packed all of Kairi's stuff and dragged her to the airport.

In the end, her reason of being here was mainly Sora.

But really, Kairi couldn't blame the guy. He was a good friend and she never said she _hated_ being here, she just felt worried about the troubles back home and getting fat. Two completely different things.

--  
Across the street, at a small store around the corner, Yuffie Kisaragi was closing up her store. It was a salon hidden deep within the Tokyo nightlife, so mainly her customers were the shadiest, or creepiest, people she'd ever met. Frankly, she grew into the predicament, but she wasn't the one that had chosen the location.

Riku Nagasaki could persuade a dead man to life as well as he could charm the pants off any person. Therefore, it was his Act of Persuasion that convinced Yuffie to open a salon in, of all places, the shady area of Tokyo. He couldn't put it in the downtown area or anywhere _safe_, no, he managed to get the lot no self respecting shop owner would choose.

It's a good thing Yuffie wasn't a serious business owner. In fact, she knew nothing about hair styling, but she could do a mean job when it came to painting nails. So far, that was what she did. Anything else, she just referred them to the shop on the other side of the block. Their hairstyling was amateur, but Yuffie wasn't one to judge.

It was nearing half past seven and the night air was chilling to below zero. Pulling the jacket closer to her body, Yuffie continued closing up the store. She twisted the key in the lock and double-checking to make sure the lock was tight, Yuffie headed down the street, toward the corner.

--  
Four blocks down, the bus driver drove the bus slowly to the second to last stop. The bus was moderately filled, many people usually getting off at the next stop. He was thinking of what his wife had cooked for dinner tonight when he heard a man approach him.

"Sir, you have to sit down until we stop."

"We ain't fucking sitting down," the man snarled in a scratchy voice. He pulled a gun from his jacket pocket and swerved it around the bus before pushing it against the bus driver's temple.

The passengers screamed at the sight of the gun, and two more men dressed in dark overcoats and turtlenecks stood up and proceeded to shut everyone up.

"Now drive if you want to live." The bus driver felt himself pee just a little bit.

Kairi finally sat up in indignation. She finally resorted to just sitting on the ground near the bust stop sign because her side was protesting against any type of movement.

It was half freaking past seven and Kairi was chilled to the bone. She wrapped her arms around herself and headed forward, feeling much like a bull in Antarctica.

"Screw the bus, I should have walked in the beginning," Kairi muttered sardonically to herself as she headed forward, just intent on getting to the other side before whatever organ in her side decided to burst.

She was halfway through when, speak of the devil, the bus finally came. Except it wasn't slowing down. Kairi looked on with mild confusion before her brain managed to process something besides blank: "Oh shit!"

Kairi pitched forward, then shouted in agony. It seemed whatever puny organ had been hurting on her side had finally decided to give up and burst. She crouched forward, holding her side and trying not to cry. She realized that it didn't really matter if she did cry or not because obviously she was going to die. Kairi sniffled, but couldn't do anything. She was a sitting duck.

Meanwhile, Yuffie had just reached the crosswalk when she noticed A) the bus was not stopping and B) there was a girl crouched in the middle of the road. So Yuffie did she only thing she could do in this situation, she played the hero and ran forward really fast.

The bus driver and the man holding the gun both screamed as they saw the petite redhead in the middle of the street. The man swore and shielded his face. The bus driver tried to process what to do, reaching into the abyss within his mind for any information he had learned during his training. His hands were shaking and the wheel beneath his hands was starting to cut into his skin, he was holding it that tightly.

The man with the gun was screaming and the passengers were crying and screaming. The other two lackeys were holding onto each other, not caring if the people weren't cooperating and at any time could easily overcome the criminals.

The boss started shaking the bus driver, trying to get him from whatever coma he had fallen into.

"Do something. We just wanted to get a few bucks from some of these people, that's all, honest! We weren't going to do anything bad!"

The bus driver was tempted to tell the idiot that he shouldn't have been robbing buses in the first place. What did he _think_ he was doing, robbing a _train_?

Yuffie had reached the crouched girl, noticing the redhead was semiconscious. Now, Yuffie was in the middle of the street, a bus closing in quickly, and Yuffie realized that she had no clue what to do, that, and she was an idiot.

So, knowing that she was probably going to die anyways, she wrapped her arms around the girl and tried to shield her.

The bus was speeding forward, the headlights illuminating the two figures. The guy with the gun was shouting curses, telling the bus driver to get his "freaking piece of shit car in control". The bus driver finally did something. He swerved in the last minute and crashed the bus into the bus stop and forward until it stopped a few centimeters from the nearby convenience store. The bus had driven into two cars in front of the store, pushing the cars forward in momentum, going all the way into the store, but managing to not hit the store owner who looked perplexed and pale, dropping his manga on the floor and falling backwards into the tobacco stock behind him.

Back on the crosswalk, Yuffie finally lifted her head and looked down at herself and the girl. They were, miraculously, all right. Yuffie exhaled deeply, not believing how lucky she was. Yuffie let go of the girl and leant back and tried to regain her breathing, Now that her head was mildly right again, Yuffie almost hit herself upside the head. What was she thinking going into the middle of the street to help that girl—

Yuffie gasped and turned toward the girl lying on the floor, fallen when Yuffie had let her go. Yuffie moved forward and shook the girl, thinking maybe she just fainted. Yuffie heard a painful whimper.

Biting her lip, Yuffie swiftly turned the girl over. The redhead's face was pale and sweaty. The red locks were sticking to her forehead. The girl was still clenching her side, her face contorting into a deep grimace. Yuffie felt the girl's forehead, feeling a burning sensation. Yuffie quickly rummaged through her pants for her cell phone, intent to call the ambulance.

--  
The ambulance came pretty quickly, but they had a long job ahead. As well as attending to the two girls, they also had to check over the passengers and the storeowner was intent they check him too. The police had arrived on the scene minutes later to haul the hijackers into the squad cars. And the criminals weren't so easy to usher in, either.

To say the least, they were pretty indignant to having to do this so late at night.

Kairi was sent to the hospital. It seemed she had had appendicitis and needed to be attended to there. Yuffie offered to ride with the redhead.

At the hospital, Kairi was in surgery and Yuffie was sitting in what was to be Kairi's hospital room. There was one other occupant and two empty beds. The other person seemed to be sleeping and unable to be aroused. Yuffie slouched into the armchair and sat, silently, watching the sterilized white bed sheets.

Damn she was bored.

What a great time to ponder the meaning of the world. Or, in other words, ponder tonight. Who would have known Yuffie had saved a person's life and now, her she was, the saint that she is, waiting for the redhead to be brought in.

Yuffie almost peed herself laughing at the situation.

Honestly, in her long twenty-three years of her life did she believe something like _this_ would ever happen. Especially living in Tokyo's neon-lighted streets and attending its local public school, her life had been one ordinary day after another. It was simply unexpected. Leaning back in her seat, she studied the sea foam green and white tiled ceiling above. The sound of a nearby clock ticked away and the steady buzz of the various machines were the only sounds within the room.

Wrapping her jacket closer around herself, Yuffie wondered how Kairi was doing. How long has it been since she was admitted into the hospital? Despite knowing the girl for less than a minute, actually they hadn't even met, Yuffie felt slightly protective over the girl. Maybe she was developing some savior complex?

Yuffie felt her pocket buzz. Taking out her cell, she saw Riku's name on the screen. She pressed the phone to her ear.

"Yes Riku?"

"Yuffie! Where are you! You're an hour late for the gang's traditional binge fest. Remember, every Saturday?" Yuffie pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead. Okay, she totally forgot about that. Well, what to tell them now. It was one thing to tell a sober Riku tomorrow afternoon about tonight's occurrences, but to tell a possibly drunk, and idiotic, Riku this late at night? Yuffie might as well lie and say she broke her foot and was at the hospital.

Which was what she did.

--  
Riku Nagasaki hung up the phone, worry and confusion written on his face. If Yuffie was clumsy enough to break her foot, she wasn't the same Yuffie Riku knew. So either he had accidentally dialed the wrong number or Yuffie was lying. For sure, Riku knew the girl was in the hospital. He could practically smell the sterilized room through the phone.

Yuffie was imaginative and smart, but she wasn't original. Then again, Riku was one drink short of drunk, but he relied on his instincts.

Riku smirked and announced to the party they were taking a field trip to the hospital.

--  
Yuffie was slowly falling to sleep when the door opened, two nurses pushing a gurney into the hospital room and to the empty bed near Yuffie.

Kairi slept peacefully in the sheets as the nurses carefully carried the girl to the bed. One of the nurses approached Yuffie. The nurse inquired if Yuffie was a family or friend. Yuffie nodded.

"When she wakes up, give her a glass of water. She won't feel any pain, although the anesthesia is soon wearing off. She'll just be a little numb," the nurse instructed, pointing to the glass of water. Yuffie nodded silently.

"No prob." The nurse nodded and left, closing the door behind her. Yuffie reseated herself on the armchair cross-legged.

She stared at Kairi. Kairi gave no sign of life besides her rhythmic breathing. The slow creep of boredom was making its way up her leg, putting it fast asleep. Yuffie stood up to stretch her legs, straining her arms upward, toward the ceiling. She sighed when there was a low crack behind her. Yuffie, having nothing to do, decided to grab some coffee and leave, making sure to ask the receptionist to inform her of the redhead's condition. After all, she was Kairi's savior in all this.

In front of the door, she leaned forward to grasp the handle and open the door—

SLAM

Yuffie was knocked back, her head tossed to the side when she hit the ground. A mess of brown spikes rushed into the room, racing up to the immobile redhead on the bed.

"Kairi!" the brunet walked up to Kairi's bedside and took the girl's limp, pale hand. His face was crestfallen and a pout was spread on his face.

Yuffie groaned groggily, her hand reaching to her forehead and down to her nose, which had taken most of the hit from the door. She sat up quickly when she felt wetness on her face.

Immediately she regretted the action. She groaned, louder now, and filled with pain. Holding her head with one hand and using her other hand to dab at her nose, Yuffie cursed whatever buffoon had smacked the door in her face. Sora, hearing the groan from near the doorway, gave a sideways glance toward the body sitting upright on the floor. Sora gasped and carefully placing Kairi's hand down, he rushed to the girl in pain.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Yuffie pressed the hand on her head harder, trying to calm her beating skull .The kid next to her wasn't making it any better.

"Idiot.." Sora tipped his head in question.

"Wha-?"

"You're the one who hit me. With the door!" Sora muttered apologies profusely, truly apologetic and guilty now. He didn't mean to ram the door into the girl.

Sora stood up. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know you were here. I'll get you a moist towel to soak the blood."

Yuffie groaned in pain in response. Great, she manages to not get run over by a bus but a door beats her up instead?

Sora returned like lightening and thrust the moist towel to Yuffie, who grabbed it from the boy's hand.

"By the way, my name is Sora." Yuffie muttered her name in response, still wary of the boy.

Sora called in a nurse to bandage up Yuffie's nose. A few minutes later found Sora sitting cross-legged on the armchair Yuffie had previously occupied while Yuffie lay on the bed to the left of Kairi.

"So how long have you known Kairi?" Yuffie asked, her pronunciation off because of the bandage. Sora heard her nonetheless.

"Oh, since college. I was a transfer student. Kairi was so nice and we got along great." Sora's eyes softened. "She's a really good friend."

Yuffie nodded somewhat, still obstructed by her headache and bandage. This explained his reaction and why he ran here like she was already dead.

"How do _you_ know Kairi?" Sora, his protective side starting to surface. He was still overlooking Kairi, but his ears perked at what Yuffie had to say. After all, he still didn't know this girl. She could be some psycho stalker that was obsessing over his friend, downtown Tokyo was filled with shady characters like them. He knew the types of people who walked into those stores in that area of downtown—he'd have to talk to Kairi about what she was doing there in the first place—and they weren't the most respectable types either.

"The girl needed help so I helped her," Yuffie said casually. She had nothing to care about really. Once her head stopped pounding, she'd be up and gone. She really had no reason to stay.

Sora burrowed his brows then a slow smile stretched out on his face.

"So you're saying you saved her?" Sora swiveled around to look at Yuffie. The black-haired girl gave the boy a perplexed expression, her hands clasped and stretched out in front of her.

"You could say so." Sora narrowed his eyes. Something didn't make sense. Who would risk their lives for someone they didn't now? Usually, bystanders just watched a crash. So why would a person, someone making business in the shadiest part of downtown Tokyo, help someone they didn't know. Unless there was more to this...

"That's funny," Sora said with narrowed eyes. Yuffie tried to remain calm under the stare. Truthfully, the kid was starting to freak her out a bit. He almost broke her nose with the door, what else could he do?

"What do you mean 'that's funny'"? Yuffie said slowly, but Sora was adamant. There was something going on, and this girl was not just some ordinary hero.

"I mean, why would you save her? You don't know her so her life would really mean nothing to you," Sora sad matter-of-factly. Yuffie's fear was starting to slowly come to anger. The kid was asking some paranoid questions that were starting to become insulting.

She narrowed her eyes, "I don't have to prove myself to you. I'm not heartless."

Sora raised a brow," I didn't say you were heartless." Yuffie huffed, _Uh, yeah, you did._

"Look, I saw the girl was in trouble, I rushed in to help her. That's is all."

"You're being pretty defensive."

"Wonder why…" Yuffie muttered under her breath. What a little punk!

Yuffie stood up. She grabbed her jacket and walked out, cautiously approaching and opening the door. Sora watched as the girl walked away. He gasped and stood up.

Sora called for the girl to come back, but it was a long day and she wanted nothing more than to get a cup of coffee and go home.

--  
Yuffie deposited coins into the slot of the coffee machine dispenser. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest and her brows were slightly furrowed. Her mind was still fuming around what that punk Sora had said. He was a really paranoid and discriminatory brat, thinking just because she lived in the shady part of town she was cold-hearted. How could Kairi be friends with him?

Yuffie shook her head. _You don't know her._ Yuffie reminded herself. She picked up her coffee from the dispenser and sipped away at it happily. She spotted a chair near the coffee machine and decided to finish her drink before she left. Just as she sat down, a nurse appeared from one of the rooms. Her hair was short and brown, tied back into her ponytail. Her face looked cheerful, but her posture was slightly crooked and she was emitting weariness.

The nurse walked up to the coffee machine dispenser and pushed in a few Yen into the machine and waited for her coffee.

The nurse, suddenly noticing Yuffie nearby, smiled widely, dimples appearing on both cheeks.

"Hello. My name is Selphie." Yuffie retorted with a greeting and her name. Once her coffee was ready Selphie leaned down to pick it up.

"Are you a relative?" Selphie asked, her voice high and almost childish sounding.

"I guess I'm a friend. The girl doesn't know me." Selphie stood upright.

"What do you mean?" Selphie asked, her head tipped slightly to the side.

"Oh, well, I helped the girl out of a rough situation, but she doesn't know it," Yuffie said, then immediately retorted," But that's only because I care, okay. I am not heartless, I have a heart and I use it. I mean, you would do the same if you were in my place, right? She was just there looking so vulnerable and _of course_ I had to help her.

"Just because I live in a not so respectable part of Tokyo doesn't make me any less of a person. I have feelings; I cared about her, okay! I am certainly not heartless. Stupid spiky-haired brat…" Yuffie rambled, her last sentence a mutter under her breath. Selphie was lost halfway into Yuffie's rambling, but she heard snippets of it and her eyes lightened up.

She jumped forward, causing Yuffie to jump back in her seat, almost spilling her coffee. She suddenly lost all traces of exhaustion, fueled by her own romantic ideas.

"You mean to tell me you _care_ about her?" Yuffie raised a brow.

"Huh? Wait, no, I think you have this all wr--", but Yuffie could not be heard over the pounding of Selphie's over imagination. It was like the lover watching from afar, not being able to be with the one he, or in this case she, loved, but forever be tormented by unrequited love. It was absolutely tragic, yet Selphie couldn't help blush at how romantic it was also.

Yuffie grabbed onto Selphie's arm, trying to calm the girl down and explain what she really meant, when there came a loud buzz at Selphie's hip. Selphie gasped and retrieved the beeper clipped to her side.

"Damn beeper, it always tickles me," Selphie muttered as she read the message. She started to head down the hall, her face turning from excited to serious.

"Sorry, but it's an emergency. Look, you're story is so cute; I hope you get the girl! Bye!" Then she was gone and Yuffie sat on her chair dumbstruck. She prayed to some God above that that brunette would forget everything she twisted around.

But prayer would not save her. Sora, suddenly realizing how rude he had been toward the black-haired stranger, wanted to find the girl before she left. He just had to conveniently catch Selphie's own interpretation of Yuffie's rambling. Sora walked back to Kairi's room confused beyond belief, yet a small smile was on his face.

-TBC-

--NEXT: the hospital is lost in translation and a visit from Riku and the gang doesn't douse the fire, either.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was a dream. It had to be. Nothing this perfect and beautiful could ever be real.

Or maybe it was the alcohol. Yeah, that was it. It was some sort of alcohol-induced mirage, and he was drinking it up. That green-drabbed fairy that pays visit to all desiring men had found him, cornered him, and was currently torturing him.

But maybe he was just a masochist.

Who hadn't had a good lay in maybe gods knew when.

"Riku, are you okay?" Riku, his eyes glazed over, blinked his eyes in response. His mouth was slightly agape and, if Yuffie was correct, a sliver of drool was starting to fall.

"Riku, get out of my way!"

Yeah, it was definitely the alcohol, or, that was what he would tell Yuffie before she decides to fling a knife at him.

--

Yuffie was left wondering the halls, chewing her lip over the deranged nurse. Nurses were healers, assistants, intuitive. They were supposed to help _stop_ a problem, not insist upon it!

But no, Yuffie just had to get the lost-in-her-romantic-fantasies nurse. Whether or not that nurse actually remembered Yuffie's problems, probably just a speck in her mind, she hoped, it was just an additive to an already bad day—night, midnight, whatever.

She decoded the signs hanging on the wall before her. She was in the west wing of the hospital. Yuffie rubbed her head. Wasn't she at the south wing just an hour ago? And wasn't Yuffie administered in the north wing?

Yuffie smacked the sign, then instantly regretted it as she held her numbing hand. Why did the hospital have to be so goddamn big, anyways? Just because it was the city's main hospital didn't register to her at all, or that it was the nearest to the downtown area where crime and mayhem thrived.

She leant her head against the peach-toned wall, trying to shut her brain down long enough to find a map. What she found just added once more to her ever-rising maelstrom.

"She says she's on love with one of the patients. Have you ever heard something so heartbreaking? Then she went into this whole rant about how her brother won't let them get together because she's poor, or something, I dunno," said a seemingly innocent voice. To Yuffie, it was the equivalence to fingernails scraping a chalkboard. She slowly patted her way to the doorway where the voices originated.

"Are you sure that was what she was talking about? You tend to twists people's words around…" said a quiet, yet confident voice. Yuffie could have hugged the unknown girl.

"Actually, Yuna, I think I might have to agree with Selphie on this. I hear all these heartbreaking stories around the hospital just like this girl's story. To think, a place that is meant to help people can cause so much sadness too," one peppy voice said, followed by a sigh. Yuffie's hands clenched, forming a fist. _No! You're adding to the problem!_

"This is the same girl that said a guy was heartbroken over the fact he couldn't tell his feelings to the girl he loved, only to find out the guy was her brother and she was "checked out" after having bunion surgery on her foot," said a disinterested voice nearby. By this time Yuffie was right at the edge of the door. She could have hugged this girl.

"I'm telling you, I'm right! I heard it quite clearly. Look, she's peeking through the doorway right now. Ask her!

Three pairs of heads swiveled around to the doorway to a caught Yuffie. The girls looked old, possibly around their late twenties, and were sitting in a recreational room with couches and a TV. One had short black hair and her facial expression was placid. Besides her sat Selphie, a seemingly innocent smile on her face. A girl with long blonde hair sat on a couch near Yuffie, a quizzical smile on her face. And at the end sat a girl with short brown hair. A pleasant, almost homey expression lay hidden in her smile.

Yuffie, suddenly embarrassed being caught eavesdropping, quickly said goodbye and rushed down the hall.

She didn't stop until the signs turned from "You are in the West Wing" to "You are in the North Wing, Exit this way" followed by a red arrow. Yuffie never thought she'd be so happy to see a red exit arrow.

Rushing toward the direction it pointed toward, Yuffie quickly walked down the steps to the large foyer.

It was midnight and not many people were left in the large area save the receptionist doing the graveyard shift. Yuffie walked toward the receptionist.

Her hair was blond, leading to her shoulders, and she was drabbed in the white uniform of the hospital. The computer was buzzing besides her, but she was doodling in a medium-sized sketchbook.

"Bristle paper, right?" The girl looked up. Her eyes were a large clear blue and her smile was small, yet seemed to reach across the foyer.

"How did you know? Not many people know about types of art paper." The girl asked, her expression seemingly brighter. "It's all the same to them."

Her voice was quiet, almost mousy. Yuffie had to strain her ears to actually hear the girl. In response, Yuffie just shrugged her shoulders.

"I dabbled a bit in art before, in university," Yuffie replied. A small 'o' formed on the blonde's face.

"Oh, wow, university. That's nice. You must be smart." Once more Yuffie shrugged.

Her? Smart? Yeah right. Her family just had a lot of money to waste. Yuffie would rather have been exploring Europe or something more exciting than being stuck in a stuffy classroom.

"Sure, I guess." The girl, as if suddenly aware of her surroundings, closed the pad and whipped out a pen.

"I'm so sorry. You must be here to sign out, right?" Yuffie nodded and the receptionist got to work filling out the necessary information.

"My name is Yuffie," Yuffie replied, not wanting to disrupt the girl. The girl bobbed her head lightly, the _scritch _of the pen loud in the empty lobby.

"There you go," the blonde said, straightening up. Yuffie leaned forward conspiratorially.

"Actually, I was wondering if you could tell me the condition of a girl on the sixth floor. I came in with her and I just want to know if she is going to be okay." The blonde thought a moment before a genuine smile crossed her face.

"Of course." Yuffie gave Kairi's information and headed toward the exit doors. She passed by the only person in the hospital, a man wearing a brown coat and seemed to be huddled in it. Yuffie didn't blame him—it was _cold_.

Suddenly, as Yuffie approached the door, she heard a voice shout back at her.

"Oh and my name is Naminè." Yuffie turned around and nodded, showing she heard. Naminè nodded back in acceptance and went back to her drawing. Yuffie, a bright smile on her face and feeling this new acquaintance might mean an upside to her night, reached toward the doors.

Unfortunately, her hopes were squashed before they had begun. A loud, screeching voice met her ears, one Yuffie did not want to hear at the moment.

"Wait, Yuffie!" Yuffie glanced behind her, and then cursed when her assumptions were confirmed. It was Sora, the brat that had called her heartless.

Yuffie quickly threw the door open, but was met with Riku, standing cockily in front of her. His hands were shoved in his pockets and he was wearing at least three layers of heavy jackets, most likely from the harsh cold air, if the seeable puffs of air coming form his mouth were anything to go by.

He had a small smirk on his face and looking down at her.

"Yuffie, what did you do now?" He asked mockingly, sounding much like her mother. Yuffie sighed annoyed and told him to go, but his eyes were suddenly caught on something behind her. Yuffie's eyes narrowed.

"Riku." No response. She tried pushing against him, but he trained in a gym and was taller than her. Confused by her friend's sudden immobility, she glanced back at the approaching brunet.

"Yuffie, don't leave yet," Sora exclaimed. Yuffie paled. No, like hell she was going to stay here. She turned back at her soon to be ex-friend, to see that dazed look once more. Yuffie blinked. She turned to look directly behind her, only to see Sora and Naminè. She then turned back to Riku.

Seeing as Riku was gay, he was definitely not gazing at Naminè. Yuffie almost choked on her own spit when she realized that look. Riku was looking at Sora. He was _looking_ at Sora. She put her hands on the silver-haired man's shoulders.

"Riku, get out of my way. I'm not afraid to dig a knife into your shoulder to do so," Yuffie said dead serious. Unluckily for Yuffie, he didn't move. He spoke.

"Yuffie, do you know him?" Riku asked, his voice sounding like it was in a daze still. Yuffie shook her head vehemently.

"No I don't know him, so let's just go-" Yuffie was cut off by a panicked Sora.

"Wait Yuffie don't go. I think you mistook what I said!" Sora retorted, not wanting the girl to go before he could explain himself. He kept a firm hold on her arm, staring at Yuffie, waiting for the girl's response. Yuffie scrunched up her nose, feeling that all too familiar headache returning. She opened her mouth to retort negatively, but surprisingly, it was Riku who spoke up.

"Maybe you should hear him out?" No, Yuffie didn't like that alternative at all. She just wanted to go home. She was tired with all this misinterpretation. The moment she came home, she'd turn into a hermit, away from human civilization.

But when she turned to Sora to say no, she saw the most pathetic sight.

Sora had large puppy-dog eyes, using all his energy into it. Yuffie, who had not been exposed to such cuteness, and therefore not immune to it, could not relent.

Reluctantly, Yuffie decided to hear the brunet out.

--

"And that's what I really meant. I didn't mean what I said before," Sora, said, wide blue eyes pleading with her. Yuffie sighed. His cuteness was getting to her, and to Riku too, Yuffie observed, glancing at her childhood friend out of the corner of her eye.

He oozed calm, but his green eyes were fixed on the brunet seated in front of Yuffie. There was a glint of interest in his eyes and a twitch of his smirk proved to be concealing a genuine smile. Whatever spell this Sora guy was putting on her friend had worked surprisingly quickly.

Riku hasn't even known the kid for more than an hour and already he was transfixed.

Then again, Riku was a master in the art of infatuation.

"So Sora, how do you know Yuffie?" Riku asked, a warm pleasant smile on his face. Yuffie tried squeeze herself into the chair, hoping it would open up its jaws and eat her whole.

"She saved Kairi's life," Sora proclaimed, turning back to Yuffie. "That's why I want to apologize. I don't want Kairi to be sad."

"Yuffie? Save a Life?" Riku asked, turning to Yuffie with a look that said 'who are you and what have you done with Yuffie?'

"No, poor boy, he mistakes me for the ambulance," Yuffie muttered sardonically under her breath, crossing her arms.

"So do you forgive me? Because I'd feel awful if I was the reason you gave up on Kairi." Two pairs of eyes, one green and one black, blinked back at Sora.

"Huh?" Yuffie asked unintelligently. What is this guy on? Yuffie thought to herself, trying to find the demon she knew under this sheet of cute confusion.

"Yuffie, you're a lez?" Riku asked, looking at Yuffie as if she had suddenly grown another head. Yuffie continued to stare at Sora incredulously. How did he come up with _this_?

"What do you mean?"

"Well I heard you and that nurse talking. You said you didn't think you were enough for her, but you still tried and now, you're giving up because of me," Sora explained, confused by her sudden reaction. He thought she would be sad, happy, surprised. Not confused.

"How-" Yuffie tried to correct the guy, but Riku intervened.

"I never knew you had a crush on anyone," Riku said, raising a brow.

Maybe he knows, Yuffie hoped inwardly. Perhaps if Riku could use that big brain of his and see through the misunderstanding, Yuffie anticipated.

"I'm so happy for you," Riku said, a smile on his face. Not a smirk, a real smile.

"But I don't-" again, she was interrupted.

"Yuffie, you have my blessing," Sora said dead serious. "Please make Kairi happy."

Yuffie stared at Sora before turning to Riku, who was looking at Sora.

Then she walked out of the room rigidly. Riku's head snapped toward the door suddenly when the door was roughly shut. As if rising from a trance, Riku stood up, but stopped.

"I better go see Yuffie. It's not exactly a good thing for her to be angry," Riku said slowly, cautiously stepping out of the room. Sora watched as the door slowly closed shut before turning his gaze toward Kairi. His face grew serious as he hovered beside his best friend.

"Kairi, I'm going to sit by my promise to you. Just wait until I get everything cleared up, okay?" Sora said solemnly, his gaze becoming unfocused as slowly slipped into a reverie of memories.

"Yuffie, what is wrong with you?" Riku asked innocently, trailing languidly behind the black-haired girl stomping her way down the hall. Yuffie growled low in her throat but refused to answer the silver-haired boy.

Riku was an idiot who fell for anything with two legs, pouty lips, and nice eyes, Yuffie thought sardonically to herself. She glanced behind herself, to see that the silver-haired boy was still following her at his moderate pace.

It took three hallways and one staircase to finally convince Yuffie to stop and turn around. Riku almost walked into the ebony-haired girl, but managed to stop himself. His arms were crossed and his face was neutral. Yuffie, glanced at him, and a sudden thought began to prick at her brain. Riku awfully reminded her of someone. Someone familiar, whose neutral, quizzical face seemed to match the expression Riku currently had.

"You know--" Yuffie began, but was stopped by Riku. The silver-haired man was not going to let Yuffie interrupt.

"Yuffie, wait. I'm so confused right now. You like that girl right?" Yuffie, opened her mouth to protest, but Riku, once again, stopped her.

"You wouldn't go to great lengths to sit and wait for the girl for almost an hour, which is what I presume you were doing when you skipped out on us tonight, if you didn't care, even just a little, right?" Riku confirmed, watching her. Yuffie frowned and shifted her weight.

"I don't even know her!"

"Exactly! Why put up with a girl you don't even know. Unless--"

"No, you're drunk and infatuated, two things that should never mix," Yuffie stated. Especially at a time when I need you to be thinking _clearly_, Yuffie thought to herself.

"And that's beside the point. I'm thinking right now. And do you know what it is I'm thinking about right now?"

"What Sora wears when he goes to sleep?" Riku was taken aback. His cheeks slowly turned a miniscule red and he stuttered on his response,

"N-No. What I'm thinking right now is that I'm your friend--!" The moment was lost and Yuffie puffed out her cheeks.

"If you were my friend, you would be siding with me!"

"But can't you see. If I let you just leave, you'll be missing out on something important. I'm making you do this because I am your friend, ever since we were little. I'm trying to help…" Riku sighed audibly and turned away, going back the way he came. Yuffie obstinately stood at her spot, unwilling to let Riku's words get to her.

The stupid player should have just gone to university, Yuffie thought bitterly to herself.

Sora looked up at a creaking noise from his far left. Riku shuffled in, closing the door carefully. He raised his head, silver strands forming in front of his face. Then his eyebrows rose.

"Um, what are you doing?" Riku asked, leaning against the wall, arms crossed. Sora was sitting by the bedside of the other patient, a tray of food seated on the bedside table. Sora was eating some of the food on a plate, and ravenously at that.

Sora sheepishly grinned, red smears visible on both cheeks. He slowly placed the food back on the tray and stood up.

"Sorry you had to see that. I haven't eaten for, like, days!" Sora exclaimed, rubbing at his stomach, a sign that the hospital food had not filled him up yet. Riku couldn't help the smile creeping onto his face.

He's so… 

"…adorable…" Riku whispered, one hand coming up to rub at his mouth, muffling his words. Sora tilted his head, hand going back to take a bite from the tray again. It wasn't like the guy was going to eat anyways. He looked pretty comatose, Sora thought to himself, glancing at the man sleeping deeply in the bed.

"What you say?" Sora asked, voice slightly muffled from the food he was chewing around. Riku shook his head dismissively.

"Hm? Nothing. Say, uh…" Riku stopped. Through the whole infatuation and revelations, Riku had forgotten something key in order for this relationship to get as far as Riku hoped it would.

He didn't know the object of his affection's name.

"This will sound really stupid, but what is your name?" Riku asked sheepishly.

"Sora. Shiozu," Sora, still digging into his, or actually the patient's, food, nonchalantly answered back, food still in his mouth.

"Sora. That's a beautiful name," Riku replied, his flirtatious tone seeping in, lacing his words. Sora didn't catch Riku's romantic insinuation and merely shrugged.

"That's what people say. It's too girly if you ask me," Sora said with a grimace, scrunching up his nose.

I'd rather have a manlier name, like Sean, or Leon or…." Sora trailed off, his face thoughtful and eyes seeming to glance faraway.

Suddenly Sora cocked his head toward Riku, still leaning against the wall. Under the scrutiny Riku straightened up, feeling as if he were being dissected, or admired. Riku liked the latter.

"Hey, what is your name?" Sora asked, head still cocked towards him and face quizzical.

"Riku Nagasaki. I'm from the--" He was cut off as Sora suddenly jumped toward him. Riku was slightly put off. He would have rather enjoyed Sora _jumping_ him.

"Yeah, a name like Riku is cool, _Ri-_ku. Ri-_ku_. It's not that manly--" Riku glared slightly, indignant "—but the name is still pretty cool. You must have all the girls going for ya, huh?" Sora asked, nudging Riku's side. The side of Riku's mouth twitched in response as he eased a bit from Sora's elbow, which had begun diving into his side and was pretty painful.

"I guess," Riku said quietly, looking down at Sora. Riku was appreciating. He had a wild flop of hair. It was cute, but looked untamable. His eyes were wide, innocent-looking eyes, with the color of the ocean, or the sky. Both were beautiful shades of blue either way. He had a cute nose with a seemingly endless grin.

Overall, Riku had to think he was the cutest guy he had ever come across. It was too bad Riku's nifty gay-dar, which had scored him quite a lot of dates and one night stands, was not going haywire. Quite the contrary, it seemed to be stuck to straight as an arrow.

Riku would have pouted, but he never had before. Thus he smirked as the challenge held before him was considered: Operation Bend the Arrow.

The door abruptly opened, a disgruntled Yuffie entering.

"Can I have a moment with Kairi?" Yuffie gritted out. Sora walked out, giving Kairi a soft glance. Riku went past Yuffie, stopping momentarily to whisper something in her ear.

"Are you considering what I said?" Yuffie glared, but it was weak. Riku grinned like Cheshire cat.

"Make sure you don't regret this," Riku said before closing the door after himself.

"I'm regretting it already," Yuffie muttered to herself, hearing the door close behind her. She stepped toward Kairi's bed, a grimace on her face.

The redhead was slumbering peacefully on the bed, the only sound in the room was the steady beeping of the heart monitor. Yuffie couldn't help but feel guilty that she _somehow_ had gotten the redhead in this predicament.

The more she looked at her helplessly sleeping on the bed, unaware of the problems she would have to face when she woke up, Yuffie couldn't help but proverbially kick herself in the butt.

"A part of me hopes you don't wake up. Then there would be no problem to anticipate," Yuffie whispered, hoping the girl didn't hear her. It was a mean thing to say, but Yuffie couldn't help but ponder it.

"Who are you?" Yuffie was taken aback, almost falling back onto her behind when that small, but stern voice suddenly spoke. Yuffie looked toward the bed of the other patient, but the voice came right in front of her.

"Where am I?" Yuffie groaned in dread. She really hated coincidences. Kairi sat up a little. It was a sluggish process, the anesthesia's presence still in her system and her throat felt like sandpaper.

Kairi only gave the black-haired girl a bleary glance before demanding a glass of water. Yuffie would have been more offended, if she weren't filled with trepidation.

"She's awake, and she doesn't look happy, Yuffie mentally anguished, pouring a glass of water at the bedside table.

She turned to give the water to the redhead, when the door burst open, a sheepish and worried Riku standing there.

"Um, Leon's here. And he's not very happy." Yuffie noticed a red mark on the left-side of Riku's face. It looked hand-shaped. There was a scandalized Sora in the background. Yuffie put two and two together, but there were more pressing matters at hand.

She maneuvered away from Kairi's bed and out the door, a still sheepish Riku following.

Sora shuffled in, immediately going to Kairi's bedside, asking her how she was.

"I'm okay," Kairi said dismissively. "But who were _they?_"

Kairi gestured toward the door where Yuffie and Riku had disappeared. Sora shrugged.

"The Coo-Coo Squad?" Sora said, shrugging. Sora mentally made a note to avoid Riku like the plague once this whole unrequited love situation was done with.

--

A/N uh-oh. What will Riku do now that Sora's afraid/angry at him? And what did happen in the hallway for Sora to fear/hate Riku? And what will Yuffie do? This in the next installment of HOC!


	3. Chapter 3

Head on Collision

A/N: Long time no read, huh? Hehe, sorry about that. This story is certainly not dumped, but has been harshly neglected, and for that, I apologize for abusing my story.

However, I hope to somehow get these chapters in at a steadier flow, to please all of you. Thanks so much for the reviews!! They really spurred me on to keep writing. So thanks!

Oh yeah, I'm sure not many are going to read over, but I added a line to the second chapter :

_But maybe he was just a masochist. _

_Who hadn't had a good lay in maybe gods knew when._

_Dream or not, bright blue eyes hit him like a running, uncontrollable locomotive and Riku was reluctant, and unable, to move. _

It's right at the beginning of the chapter. Usually, when I write, I like to complete the whole story before posting (never been done but working at it), because usually I go back, change a few things, etc. This is the first fic that I posted that is a true WIP.

Bear with me! Okay, now on to the chapter! Oh yeah, this chapter has no been revised, so if you notice something wrong, sorry, but I will be leaving for a month (Vacation! …Before school… bleh!) and will be unable to re-post an edited version. Sorry!

Chapter 3

Yuffie could have hugged the girl guiding them to where their newly arrived friend waited. That is, before she strangled her like Thanksgiving Turkey. The innocent nurse Tilmitt, or Selphie as she told or more like ordered them to call her, the same nurse who had placed Yuffie in this quandary was currently leading them down an expanse of hallways singing a light tune under her breath.

Though Yuffie was thankful for the girl's intrusion, helping Yuffie escape from a soon to be very awkward situation, Yuffie wouldn't need saving if the girl could just learn to hold her tongue, or at least lower her voice. Thusly, Yuffie kept narrowed eyes on the girl's pinstriped pink and white uniform.

"Coffee?" Yuffie blinked, breaking her trance, and looked at the coffee in the other girl's hand. The lid had been trashed and Yuffie could see the rich almond brown liquid and transparent steam rising heavenward. For some reason, Yuffie felt parched.

"Oh sure--" Riku leant to grab the cup, a charming smile on his face, but his hand was slapped away. Riku retracted, holding his abused hand to his chest and giving a hurt, confused look at the nurse. She wagged her finger in front of his pointed nose.

"Nuh-uh. First of all, you've been drinking. Your breath reeks of beer," Selphie said strictly. Riku furrowed his eyebrows and turned his head a ways away, letting out a breath and scrunching his nose from the alcohol smell that resulted. He sheepishly bit his lip. It was a good thing she didn't know he had driven here as well.

"Second of all, you're a _boy_, and from the looks of it, a ladies—or should a say _man's_—man. No STDs from you!" Selphie huffed and spun on her feet, leading them forward once more. That comment brought a dark red to flush his cheeks, accommodated by a teasing smirk. The look on Sora's face was priceless.

Yuffie raised a brow. She was the only person in this hospital that she knew of who was close to Riku and knew that Riku was gay. So how could Selphie…?

Yuffie leaned close to Riku, their shoulders brushing.

"Riku how does Selphie know…" she motioned with her fingers a spastic gesture toward Riku "that?" Riku shrugged nonchalant. Yuffie rolled her eyes at Riku's behavior. He was always a mischievous kid, more so during high school when he was (supposed to be) more knowledgeable.

"She might have seen me doing something… um.. not appropriate under hospital etiquette," Riku muttered, side glancing at Yuffie. Yuffie gave him a disgusted look and walked a little ahead of Riku. She wasn't surprised. Riku didn't have a real grasp between inappropriate and appropriate or private and public, especially when such issues concerned inappropriate actions better left private.

"Okay, we're here. You're friend is just through this door, " Selphie announced, standing before a glass sliding door, the reception room behind only a blurry image.

Yuffie slowly traversed through the door and stared at the guy sitting down at a nearby leather couch. He was leaning forward with his elbows perched on his jeans-clad knees, his fingers clasped together.

Yuffie almost edged back from the pointed look the guy was shooting her. It was a cross between tired and outraged, while still looking apathetic. However, Riku had knocked her inside, unaware of what was occurring and a surprisingly stronger-than-expected Selphie pushing him in.

"Good. You three get acquainted and I'll go back to my rounds. Have fun and, oh, Yuffie," Selphie paused, lingering by the doorway. Yuffie turned to look at the nurse, feeling gray eyes shifting from her to Riku.

"Good luck with that redhead!" Selphie gushed, smiling knowingly and stepping outside. Yuffie grimaced and telepathically sent hate messages to the other girl, before turning away.

"Leon…" Yuffie muttered, sitting across on an almost identical leather armchair, leaning back uncomfortably in the hard leather.

"What are you doing here anyways?" Riku asked jauntily, flopping down into a nearby leather chair, the hard leather beneath him unrelenting in its solid form.

"I got in hit in the head. I'm just staying here until the hospital says I'm not going to suffer any concussion," Leon explained thinly, his glare focusing off her and onto Riku, the silver-haired man resting and crossing his feet on a glass table set between the chairs.

"So Leon… you got busted by the cops, huh?" Riku remarked, not unaware of the events prior, including a slightly drunk, but drunk nonetheless, Leon running after him out of their shared apartment.

Leon grunted, still in his rigid position.

"Well I wouldn't have encountered such a thing if it weren't for you," Leon said, shooting Riku a glare. Riku raised his hands in front of his face palms up.

"What do you mean?" Riku asked, eyes shifting away from gray, accusing eyes.

"I got busted for driving 'under the influence' by _you,_" Leon seethed, though his face remained neutral despite how stiffly he bared his teeth or how intensely he clasped his hands.

"Hey, I didn't tell you to get in the car and drive here drunk," Riku said, defending himself. Leon rolled his eyes.

"I wouldn't have if you had just listened to me. I drove here to drag your ass back home. You're a drink shy of getting full blown drunk Riku, what were you thinking driving out here!" Riku shrunk back. As much as he was reluctant to admit it, Leon had a point.

"We-well, you were drunk too! _And_ I didn't run afterwards!" Riku said lowly, defensively. He had known Leon had drove after him. But he had only seen him running towards him after he was at the entrance of the hospital! And then… then he saw the beautiful Sora coming down and Leon quickly flew out the back of his mind.

"I didn't know they had even spotted me and I would have escaped too if that blonde idiot hadn't gotten in the way…" Leon muttered, his head turning slightly away and his eyes darkening, remembering the events previous. Riku and Yuffie turned toward the brunette with raised brows.

"Blonde idiot?" At that, the door creaked open and a blonde stepped in, holding an ice pack in one hand. His face was apathetic until he noticed the two new members to their party.

His hair was fashioned in lean, wild spikes and deep blue eyes appeared empty, emotionless. He suddenly shuffled in a bit and awkwardly handed Leon the ice pack a foot away. Both men had to lean a bit forward due to the excessive space between them. The awkwardness in the room was almost palpable.

When Leon had grabbed the ice pack, the blonde shuffled away and went to the door, not looking back.

"Well it seems you have people here to tend to you so I'll just head out. Um.. bye," he quickly shuffled out the door, the door closing with a noticeable thud. Yuffie and Riku only stared at the occurrence with puzzled faces.

"Leon, who was that?"

The brunette turned to the younger two, ice pack hitting a bump on the side of his head.

"Some guy I ran into," Leon hissed, lifting the ice pack from the bump in pain. "I was trying to catch up to Riku when the guy just came out of nowhere and I ran into him. Then the cops came."

Leon sighed tiredly, shifting back into the cushions. He felt incredibly embarrassed for being tackled to the ground like some common criminal or escaped prisoner. Though he didn't know about the cops chasing after him, a little part of him regretted getting caught.

If it weren't for that guy…Leon thought miserably. His license was suspended for a month, which meant he would have to hitch rides off Yuffie and Riku. He threw a glare at the silver-haired guy seated next to him. A glare Riku chose to ignore. 

--

"But Leon! If you can't drive then who's going to drive me to work!" Yuffie demanded stomping after the man headed toward his room. Leon shrugged disinterestedly. He didn't really care that Yuffie couldn't hitch a ride off him anymore. He was more concerned with the idea that he could not drive himself anywhere and would have to get rides off Riku and, if she wasn't lazy or homicidal, Yuffie. The night had been tiring, getting a DUI arrest and later expected at a trial the next morning.

He just wanted to go home and sleep—really sleep, in a bed, no matter worse for wear it was. However, the dream was currently being deferred by Yuffie's constant ranting at his door.

"You know I can't concentrate in the mornings. I could cause a citywide pile up at only nine in the morning! Leon! Are you listening to me?" Leon shot a muffled response from his position facedown on the bed.

Yuffie knocked once more on the door, huffing when the brunette didn't answer.

Fine, Yuffie thought, I'll just bug him about it tomorrow. Anyways, she'd be first to ask Riku to take her tomorrow in the morning. She cackled at Leon's misfortune. That serves him right.

Yuffie plopped onto the flea-bitten couch in the living room, staring up at the rotating fan above. It was the middle of summer and the air, even at night, tended to be humid. Thus, the fan was placed on low until everyone fell asleep. Then, someone would have to turn it off and try to go to sleep while sweating profusely. It wasn't a pleasant experience overall. Yuffie should know; she was usually the one designated to do the unpleasant job since this wasn't her apartment in the first place. However, since everyone had been up for a while, everyone just decided to let the fan run on anyways.

Riku and Leon rented an apartment on the east side of the city, which was conveniently close to the hospital, thus why they had all crashed here. Yuffie's place was a little out of the city on the outskirts where the industrial background turned into small suburbs.

Yuffie hung her head over the side of the arm of the couch; lazily watching the wings of the fan rotate slowly. She reflected on their quick getaway. They thankfully left when Leon's condition was better and instructed to go straight home. They had just returned and now Yuffie was left with no ride. Sure she could ride herself, but that took so much energy. Yuffie turned to the clock on the side table. It was three in the morning. Which meant it was three hours before she would have to get to work. That was not enough sleep to drive all the way to work! Plus, she would most likely just end up late—then again, it was her own business.

Speaking of business, she had an unresolved business that she had given no thought to whatsoever. Though it would be a one in a million chance that she would ever see the redhead, she felt a sense of guilt for leaving her to drown in the mess she—kinda sorta—left behind at the hospital. The redhead would most likely be confused, terrified, and indignant. She imagined the bleary… were her eyes purple? Yuffie shrunk lower into the seat. Yeah, Yuffie, make fun of the color of her eyes, though she did remember them to be a peculiar shade. She shook her head mentally. No, she shouldn't be dwelling on the color of the girl's eyes as she _should be_ dwelling on the girl's most likely unwanted situation. Yeah, it was a good thing she hadn't stayed long. However, she couldn't let the girl deal with everything.

Unless, Yuffie thought standing up a bit on the couch and propping her elbow on the arm of the chair, the redhead just completely disregards the situation. She most likely would just laugh it off and that would be the end of it, like Yuffie should be doing.

Humming merrily at the prospect that the situation would resolve itself, Yuffie sighed contentedly and fell back against the couch, falling asleep watching the rotating fan clunker in its circular pattern.

--

Yuffie woke up the next day to the doorbell buzzing within the small apartment. Leon and Riku were dead to the world and Yuffie was strangely a light sleeper. She couldn't explain the phenomenon, but Yuffie was sensitive to the area around herself, any noise could slowly bring her awake. And she wasn't like Riku who would blearily sit up and then act as if he were in a dream-like trance. Leon was also a light sleeper, usually, when he didn't sleep past a certain time. Sleeping at three in the morning could guarantee his current deadness to the world.

Yuffie groggily stood up, moaning at the prospect at having to get up. She pulled her shirt down a little and scratched her tousled hair. When she cracked the door open, the clasp at the top preventing the door from opening more than an inch inward, she saw a tan, cheery man with a bright smile and a white and red hat hiding highlighted blonde hair. She cocked her head to the side, brows furrowing at the unexpected visitor. He looked young, at least in his early twenties.

"Hello, my name is Tidus and I am from Cid's Tow Company," he said sprightly, clipboard clutched to his chest. He dug into his pants, eyes lowering to the task at hand. Yuffie noticed that the kid's shoe was lodged between the door and the threshold. He triumphantly pulled out a slip of paper from his pants pocket and slipped it through the door, the thin, white paper crinkled from its pervious location.

Yuffie narrowed her eyes, cautiously grabbing the paper and then intently staring at the words written across in thin, sloppy handwriting.

"Um… Riku!"

Yuffie smiled apologetically and turned toward the inside of the house. She went to close the door and heard a muffled "ow!". Yuffie swung around again, looked at the tow person and to the shoe lodged in her door.

"Could you move your shoe?" Yuffie asked, impatience obvious on her face. Tidus stared at her confused.

"No," he said simply, clutching the clipboard closer to himself. Yuffie sighed in frustration.

"I'll be back," she said, not caring about whatever paranoid excuse he had to keep her door open and swiftly turning around. She walked down the hall to where Riku's room was. Knowing knocking was going to be to no avail, she traipsed into the room to find a Riku out cold on the floor, curled up and drooling over the wooden floor. His keys were still loosely grasped in his hand. Yuffie sighed, kneeling beside her friend.

"Riku, wake up!" Yuffie said, shaking the silver-haired boy awake. Riku opened his bleary eyes, sitting up a little and looking quite lost.

"Why am I on the floor?" Riku asked, yawning and stretching his arms. Yuffie grabbed his shoulder and presented him the slip of paper.

"Yuffie, do you expect me to read in the morning?" Riku asked, giving Yuffie a pointed look.

"Yes, I expect you to look at this slip of paper that states that your car has been towed away and you have to pay a fine to get it back!" Yuffie explained, thrusting the paper at Riku. The paper hit his muscled chest and fell into his lap. Riku looked at the paper.

"My car's been towed?" Riku asked, trying to process the information. Yuffie nodded quickly. "I have to pay a fine?"

Moments later Riku's eyes grew large, realization sinking in, and he grabbed the paper, clutching it in his hands.

"I can barely make my half of the rent!" Riku cried, staring at the paper and then despairingly at Yuffie, "What am I going to do?"

"Well the tow truck guy's at the door," Yuffie said. She had a sneaking suspicion that he was still there by the way the kid seemed to guard the opened door. He's probably had so many doors slammed in his face before. Poor kid.

Riku quickly got up, albeit clumsily, and sprinted to the door where he sobbed at the fate of his poor car.

Yuffie exited Riku's room, watching as Riku's shoulders slumped in defeat. He wouldn't be getting hi car soon.

"Well _now_ how am I going to get to work!" Yuffie yelled, disbelieving her luck. Great, now even Riku can't take her. Riku half-turned to Yuffie, an angry and miserable look on his face.

"Take the bus!"

--

Yuffie sighed, tired and discouraged. Riku had been pretty angry. He refused to go to work and when she had left him, he was hunched over the small kitchen table staring down at the slip of paper as if it held the answers to life. Yuffie didn't understand why she was getting the burnt of Riku's current despair. It wasn't her fault Riku had, due to his tiredness last night, parked in a red zone. She didn't go outside and mischievously paint the sidewalk red. So why was he treating her like she did?

After dropping in some coins, Yuffie clumsily approached the nearest seat and dropped down. She leant her arm against the window and waited for the bus to go.

Truth be told, Yuffie wasn't foreign to the ways of riding a bus. She tended to ride one when she was late and everyone had gone, but since Riku co-owned the beauty salon she didn't need to worry about getting a ride. She had grown so accustomed to Riku's Nova she had grown out of the habit, and the want, to ride a bus. But riding a bus was like riding a bike: once you know how you never forget. Not that it's hard in the beginning; riding in the dirt-infested, cramped vehicle was something a person tended to become accustomed to. Then, a person eventually melded into the habit, though the want was always there. Once you've learned the pleasure of riding in a car with more space and only one person sitting beside you instead of two hundred, the transition is an agonizing experience to some.

However, a few days of riding the bus, and Yuffie had automatically gotten back into the habit.

She stepped off the bus and squinted under the glare of the sun's rays bouncing off a metal surface of the store's roof. Yuffie's store, Yuf's Hair and Nail Salon, wasn't amazing, nothing like those huge, grandeur salon and spa places on the upper side of Tokyo. Her place was… modest, as in the apartment Riku and Leon shared. Yuffie was just happy they didn't need pillars of metal buckets every rainy season. The roof of the salon slanted downwards, topped off by a faded, wooden green tier that hung above the salon entrance. The glass walls were empty eyes looking down at the dirty cement sidewalk and the only thing appealing about the store was the hanging chime near the door, a melodious jingle released at every swing of the door.

However, how much she despised the ugly green tier that winked above her every day or how she always complained to Riku that they should change their glass windows into bulletproof, Plexiglas instead. They did live on the bad side of downtown Tokyo after all. A little sense of safety could be appreciated. She wasn't exactly waiting for Riku to come save her from a gun-wielding maniac. Leon possibly, but she would sooner find Riku huddling with her behind the upturned desk-turned-shield then in front of harm's way.

Yuffie dug into her jeans for the keys to the store, only to discover the store was already unlocked. Blinking in acute confusion, Yuffie looked through the glass doors and recognizing a pacing man with silver-hair. She was even more confused by Riku's sudden appearance, especially when the silver-haired man was reluctant to leave this morning.

The day was slipping well into the afternoon now and Yuffie wondered what could have changed Riku's mind. Slipping past the door, the familiar melodious chime ringing above her, Yuffie walked to the obviously distressed man.

Riku would occasionally stop his pacing to glance at a spot or a corner of the small salon, mutter something under his breath, and then pace around once more. Yuffie watched Riku, finding the scene weird, but amusing.

It didn't take long for Riku to figure out he wasn't alone, his face turning to the amused girl and raising one brow in realization.

"Didn't notice you came in," Riku muttered, his crossed arms loosening slightly.

"Just a minute ago, but I'm wondering what _you're_ doing _here_," Yuffie answered, looking expectantly at Riku. Riku tilted his gaze away, returning to pacing again.

"I happen to co-own the place. It's not uncommon that I'm here," Riku explained, continuing in his routine of scrutinizing the salon.

Riku, since receiving the notice that he was temporarily without a ride had opted to stay at the apartment to sulk. Obviously the lure of rent money and food brought him from his stupor. However, moments of watching Riku pace around the place like a zombie, she was beginning to get edgy.

"What are you doing?" Yuffie finally asked, getting a slight headache from Riku's pacing. Riku didn't answer immediately, however he did stop. He crossed the path from his spot in front of the vanity mirrors and salon chairs to the front desk where all the business was held. He was scrounging through receipts and copies, then to the cash register and finally to some papers that summed up their business for each day.

He frowned and slammed one hand on the metal desk, the other running through his silver locks. Yuffie sidled near the desk, a few feet from Riku. The man wasn't doing anything but chewing on his lip and staring at the papers before him. Yuffie leaned over the desk, gaining a full view of the papers and trying to read what Riku was seeing.

"We barely getting anything close to business with this store, do we Yuffie?" Riku asked, not looking up at Yuffie but at the papers in front of him, his voice level and innocently inquisitive.

Yuffie shrugged and crossed her arms as well, her smile not discouraged in the least.

"Well we only get people who actually come here for anything close to beauty related every once a while…" Yuffie retorted. She watched as Riku's eyes looked up at her from beneath cascading bangs.

"Which is…"

"Like, if were lucky, four people in a standard week," Yuffie replied. The silver-haired man muttered a curse, straightening himself, but his eyes never strayed from the information. His brows were still knitted in concentration.

"What's up Riku? You were never worried about the sorry state of the business before. So why now?" Yuffie asked, cocking her head in question.

"Because my car's on the line and the rent is due soon and Leon and I have been barely scraping by before but now…" Riku trailed off, not really knowing what his thoughts were concluding. He had just paid the rent yesterday. Their apartment was thankfully cheap, but with Riku and Yuffie's less than steady business and Leon's work at Cid's mechanic shop they were only able to scrounge enough money for the rent and food. Since they need food to survive and a roof over their head, Riku couldn't exactly deplete the money spent on either necessity. Thus, Riku was left in his sudden predicament to gain some money before the next month, where he would have to pay for the rent, his car, and their food. He needed more time to get some extra money, or more people for the business. Since he couldn't actually slow down time or stop it temporarily, he would have to turn to getting money the old fashioned way.

"We need to increase the productivity of the shop, Yuffie. Get our asses in gear. We need to increase publicity of the salon, spreading flyers, making deals," Riku commanded. They need a stream of people, or even a steady trickle of people. Anything was better than four customers a day. And they had a month to accomplish their goals. Riku scanned the salon.

"And Yuffie I've noticed we do not have enough employees," Riku noted, his voice echoing in the slightly empty room, the only people within being Yuffie and himself. Yuffie giggled.

"How observant of you Riku," Yuffie replied, but it was lost on Riku's ears. He was more distracted on trying to rectify a year of negligence.

"We certainly need more than one and at least one person to each chair, as well as people to do the nails," Riku muttered more of his observations. This was Riku taking charge, Yuffie thought to herself. However, she was doubtful whatever they would do would really help. Did they really have the resources to accomplish anything?

"I can paint nails!" Yuffie added, trying to be helpful.

"How about hair, can you do that too? Because until we have more employees, it's only going to be you," Riku said, looking hopefully at Yuffie. Yuffie half-grimaced, lip pulled down in a negative gesture.

"Actually, no. I just kind of been directing people to the other salon for hair…" Yuffie explained, and could see the anger and incredulity rise in the aquamarine eyes.

"You what?! Yuffie, we need business, you don't direct them to another store!" Riku howled, disbelief that Yuffie would actually turn away paying customers.

"Well, I don't know how to cut hair, much less style it. As you can see Riku, I don't actually have that much hair to experiment," Yuffie commented, waving her short black hair to and fro.

Riku opened and closed his mouth, looking much like a fish on deck. He refrained himself from trying to pull his hair out because his hair was naturally perfect like this and it wouldn't be good to take advantage of such a gift. He also couldn't break anything because, well, there really wasn't anything in the salon.

Instead, he took a deep breath. He'd seen Leon do it countless times when dealing with Yuffie and himself.

"Ok, let's take this one day at a time," He thought for a moment, silver eyebrows bunching in thought. "I'll do the whole employees problem: writing the ad, getting the ad seen, the like. You will be in charge of getting customers and training them."

"But I can't do hair! All I can do are nails, and I'm not even good at it!" Yuffie protested. She had gotten into the business expecting to do nothing but have fun and talk to people. But no, they were in a money crises and Riku was going nazi on her now.

She looked put off when Riku shrugged off her concerns.

"Then find someone who knows a little about styling or cutting hair and who isn't looking for a lot of money," Riku retorted, going behind the desk. Yuffie stared at Riku, trying to make his hair catch on fire with her hateful look.

But it was to no avail.

So Yuffie just sighed and resigned her self to her job, no matter how much she loathed it. For the rest of the day Yuffie sat on the couch, trying to put off finding employees, and Riku stayed-or hid- behind the desk, sifting through piles of paper.

--

Three days had passed since Riku's nazi raid on the salon. Two weeks had passed since Riku first received the notice about his car being towed away. And two weeks and three days had passed since the bus incident and Kairi.

However, Yuffie still remembered, no matter how she tried not to. Thus, when she stepped onto the bus and scanned for available seats, she immediately recognized Kairi. And it was just her luck that Kairi would recognize her too, and spot her. Yuffie had been a little embarrassed, crouched down onto her hands and knees and trying to avoid recognition by crawling to the only available seat behind Kairi, unaware that Kairi already knew she was there. When Kairi said her name, looked down at her in confusion and a hint of amusement, Yuffie's senses shut down and, looking more like a fool, she only stared open-mouthed at the redhead. Then to add insult—or in this case mortification—to injury, Yuffie complied to sit next to her.

And they sat, quiet and slightly uncomfortable, for the next hour, Yuffie wondering why she didn't just walk. It took the same amount of time and less worry, for say, seeing someone she would really rather not encounter.

"Sora told me what happened," Kairi finally spoke, her voice collected and firm, not soft as Yuffie imagined she would sound. Yuffie's eyes almost bugged out of her head, trying to choke on her own spit.

"W-what?" Yuffie asked, embarrassed by the meekness in her voice. She had the right. Sora thought a lot of things last night. Most of them not necessarily true. She waited in trepidation at what Kairi would say, that she would blame her for being some creepy lesbian psycho stalker. But she wasn't! She didn't even know if she even swung that way.

"He told me that you saved my life last night, at the bus," Kairi said simply, still not looking at the ebony-haired girl. She was fingering a loose thread on her pink skirt. "So thanks."

Kairi opened her mouth a little, then shook her head and closed it, turning to look out the opposite window.

Yuffie frowned a little, nodding her head. So that was the only thing the brunet punk said. She refrained from bellowing a "thank God!" within the bus and opted to just stare out of the window. Kairi was still avoiding eye contact. Not that Yuffie cared anymore. Kairi had no misconceptions of her. She even felt the air within the bus lift a little.

The bus pulled to a stop a block away from her work. Yuffie stood up, and then raised a brow in puzzlement when Kairi stood up as well.

"Your stop too?" Yuffie asked, finally seeing the amethyst eyes under long auburn bangs. Yuffie had to admit, Kairi did have nice eyes, the color very rare and almost reflecting the image of sparkling diamonds. The idea reminded her of her younger years, when, as a child, she used to gaze over soft, glass balls of various shades and hues. Her father used to call them materia (1). Kairi's eyes were beautiful like those orbs. Rare and beautiful.

"Yeah, I'm looking for a job here in Tokyo." Yuffie mentally shook herself out of her thoughts when she heard Kairi's suddenly soft words. Following the redhead out of the bus, she noticed Kairi's accent was different when she spoke the language. She had heard Japanese-Americans studying in college having the same accent when they conversed in Japanese (2).

"Are you from America?" Yuffie asked, trying not to sound nosy, but she was a curious person in nature. She looked curiously at Kairi, trying to gauge her reactions, but she only saw surprise.

"Yeah, I am. I'm staying with Sora." She stopped, thought, then said, "Why? Is my accent that bad?"

She cringed a little, her mouth forming a pout. Yuffie shrugged nonchalantly.

"No, you speak it pretty well. I went to America a few years ago and some of the students knew Japanese as well and you grasp the language like them," Yuffie explained. "Have you always been in America?"

"I'm first-generation. My parents immigrated from Japan to America, but I managed to pick up the language because that's what they speak at home."

"Heh. I can speak English too, y'know. Well, that's why my parents let me go to America. I had a tutor for a while, too, who taught me. We can speak English. 'Cuz it would be fun to talk about people behind their backs." Yuffie muttered, a mischievous smirk on her face. Not many people knew English too well, and it's always fun to have a partner in crime.

"Maybe," Kairi chuckled, a small smile spreading on soft pink lips. Yuffie couldn't help but smile back. Kairi had a nice smile, that is.

They both stopped in front of Yuffie's store.

"Well this is my stop." Both said in unison. Yuffie blinked owlishly and Kairi stared back in confusion.

"Are you trying to get a job too?" Kairi asked.

"No, I work here." She pointed to the sign of the store. "I'm Yuf—er, Yuffie."

Kairi pressed a hand to her mouth, biting down a giggle.

"What a coincidence."

Yuffie opened the door, hearing the harmonious ring from above, and without a doubt knowing coincidence was not the reason. Fate was just rearing its ugly head. The same fate that managed to put Yuffie and Selphie at the same coffee machine or Sora to throw the door in her face, binding their strings of fate together, irreversible.

Yuffie walked in, spotting Riku at the desk, again, shifting papers around him.

"Hey proprietor. We have a pending employee here. Here name's Kairi." Riku glanced up, and then threw Kairi a charming smile he saved purely for business matters.

He stood up, and reached out his hand to Kairi.

"Well, Kairi, well just get down to business," Riku affirmed, both shaking hands awkwardly as both only gave a half-hearted effort then pulled apart. Kairi slid onto the black, steal-framed chair in front of the desk.

"You know, you seem pretty familiar," Riku commented, cocking his head to the side.

"Weren't you the guy who tried to hit on the male nurse and got slapped?" Riku's smile faltered, then returned weakly.

"Eh, oh yeah. And you're the girl Yuffie's in lo-" Yuffie's eyes widened and she sprang over the desk to clamp a hand over Riku's mouth.

"Yeah, remember, you met each other in the hospital after I saved your life." She removed her hand, sensing the glare thrown her way, but ignoring it.

"Sorry about Riku, but he's a flirt. He didn't mean any harm at all, or to traumatize you're very _straight_" she gave a quick pointed look at Riku "friend. Right Riku?"

Riku grumbled a reply, cutting his eyes away to look at the spotless linoleum floor. That had been embarrassing. He was going to lean in and go forth with his plan to grab and drag Sora into the nearest closet and show him the benefits of being gay, or just being with him, when that nurse came by. Riku could admit his libido could be a little out of hand sometimes. Though that pride wounding slap really wasn't necessary.

"Well, I guess what they say is true. It is a small world after all…" Yuffie shrugged, Riku grunted something in reply, and Kairi just sat in her seat, wondering whether she should just bolt out right now. But she needed a job and this seemed like a good place. She still felt like she was mooching off Sora.

'Well, I'm pretty good with hair, styling it and everything. I don't expect a lot of pay, just as long as I get paid. I don't have experience, besides doing my own hair and sometimes Sora's." Riku's head perked back up, a small perverted smile curving on his face at the idea of Sora with ribbons in his hair... and what he could do with those ribbons afterwards. Both girls ignored him and Kairi continued.

"Plus, this is more fun that just sitting in a stuffy, old office all day. Also, I'm good with people," Kairi concluded, clasping her hands on her lap. Riku sat back and nodded his head. This was their first interviewee and she sounded pretty good.

"Okay. We'll put you on a trial week and if you're good, you're hired, and you'll be paid for that week." Kairi nodded happily.

"Thank you so much!

"Do I start now?" She looked around her at the empty salon, only Riku, Yuffie, and herself occupying the lonely space.

"Sorry, but we don't get that many customers. We're still trying to draw them in…" Yuffie muttered. She had put up posters and ads in the newspaper, but there were so many salons nowadays, it was hard for their small salon to receive recognition.

Thinking back to how she handled the business previously, she thought maybe sending those people away wasn't such a good idea.

"I'm sure I can try to send in some customers," Kairi said.

--

Leon, his hands dug deep into his jeans pockets, wandered the downtown district of Tokyo for what seemed like hours. He used the main high way as a guide and he found himself perfectly lost. Lost in mind and lost in place.

Perfect.

He felt like getting lost, just getting away from Riku bemoaning the loss of his car and Yuffie shrieking at him to drive her to work anyways because she hated the bus.

Actually, Leon had no problem with the latter, because Yuffie stopped her ranting a week ago and was actually being quiet. Well, not really, but she wasn't banging down his door every five minutes and that was enough for him.

However, Riku was still in a slump and he couldn't stand the sight of him staring into the refrigerator dazedly, clutching the same strip of paper he'd been holding for the last two weeks.

Not knowing what to do and having a day off, Leon decided to just drift away into the streets.

And it looked as if he received his wish because he was perfectly lost, that is until he came across an all too familiar building.

He squinted up past the light reflecting off the glass windows of the white hospital. He stood in the shadows of the looming, lush green bushes, wondering how in the hell he managed to wander here of all places.

Leon noticed the road broke ahead. One wound around a bending grass field and, up ahead, connecting to the pale tan walkway toward the main doorway of the hospital. The other cemented road ran firmly straight to the east of the hospital, winding in between the parking lot and the grassy hospital grounds.

He stopped at the fork in the road and didn't try to think about which way to go, but doing so nonetheless. He knew the road going past the main entrance would lead forward a mile or two before ending at a crosswalk and the streets of Tokyo ahead. However, the other road would eventually wound through most of the hospital before reaching the mile or two trek leading out of the hospital area.

Leon headed toward the parking lot, his feet dragging him blindly around the curve. He stared down at his ratty sneakers, feeling slightly childish in his wandering mind and want to be alone. Actually, reflecting back, he realized his teenage days had been in much the same mentality. They called him emo, whatever that meant, something along the lines of emotional, but he was far from it. He felt very… emotionless? Apathetic? Unfeeling?

He wasn't certain. There was a word for what he had, what he felt, but no search of a dictionary or book could tell him exactly, in all the right words. And nothing seemed to cure him of the disease, because a disease is what he felt.

Riku and Yuffie, both were energetic and full of life in their own sense, but that beacon of light never seemed to reach him.

He just couldn't understand how they could… feel so much and then spread it as well.

Leon furrowed his brows and his hands clenched tightly in his pockets, the familiar fuzzy, stringy feeling of lint collecting between his fingers and digging into his fingernails.

He turned the corner, just wandering aimlessly

BAM

Leon was knocked back, but not enough to land him ass first. The other person, the one he obviously ran into, fell against the white walls of the hospital. A splash of liquid sounded moments after and Leon stared almost strangely and confused at the splatter of brown at his feet. He slowly raised his eyes upward.

A lithe figure, slight muscle underneath straight leg dark jeans and a blood red t-shirt—which was now, stained a coffee brown.

The familiar blonde, blue eyes dark with anger and frustration, rubbed a couple tightly fisted napkins over the hot liquid on his shirt.

Leon thought of maybe edging away. Bad karma must be responsible for running into the same person twice and the consequences being embarrassing and pathetic.

The man grunted in disgust and badly concealed anger when the stain looked permanent.

He blew a sigh through his clenched teeth and looked up, suddenly noticing the man he ran into.

The same brunette who ran into him a few weeks ago, at the same hospital.

"Not you again," the blonde said in agitation, inspecting the coffee cup, hoping too much didn't spill. He dully noticed it was half-full. He really didn't want to go back to the café again. It was so far from his room.

"Sorry to erm- crash into you again," Leon apologized, seeing the blond finger the cold stain on his shirt. The blond simply grimaced, blew a few locks of hair from his face and leaned away from the wall, coming nose to nose to Leon.

"If you're really sorry, buy me another coffee," the blonde demanded. His glare was unwavering, but Leon noticed with amusement that the glare was nothing more than a well covered-up pout. Though he was slightly afraid f the emotion intent in the icy blue stare.

However, he was indignant that the blonde would ask—no, _demand_—that he buy him another cup of coffee.

It was just coffee after all.

"No way. I said I was sorry, but I'm not going to buy you a lousy coffee," Leon retorted, pushing past the blonde and hoping to continue his little exercise.

The blonde stood still, rigid, for a moment, before he swiveled around, the glare intensifying a little. However, Leon was moving away from the angry blonde and couldn't see the glare to be too much affected by it.

"Hey come back here! You owe me a cup of coffee, you clumsy oaf!" the blonde yelled after Leon. Soft footsteps raced towards him and Leon turned momentarily, before he was pushed backwards.

Seconds later found Leon lying on his back on the cement sidewalk with an indignant blonde straddling him. The blonde's common beauty—soft blonde hair, deep blue eyes, alabaster skin—was not unnoticed by Leon and, in any other situation, Leon would have found the position they were in slightly arousing,

However, the thoughts flew from his mind when the blond jerked his head forward, then slammed it back down harshly, but almost hesitantly. Leon was oblivious, or unconcerned, for the slight hesitation as stars and blackness crept into his vision.

What the _fuck?!_

Leon clumsily reached out a hand and pushed against the blonde's chest, his vision slightly blurry and shaky. The blonde, suddenly overcome with confusion, effortlessly dropped to the side. Once the weight was removed off his chest, Leon brought the hand to his numbing head, the nerves in his brain shooting pain signals all the way down to his spine.

He shut his eyes in pain, nearby the sound of feet shuffling, coming fainter, then closer until the soft footfalls sounded like banging drums in his ear.

The atmosphere sounded quiet, but Leon had a feeling he wasn't alone.

"Isn't this the time you run away, or something?" Leon muttered, a sigh of pain escaping, eyes still screwed shut.

"Do you have a concussion…?" a low, concerned voice asked. Concerned? He better be concerned, Leon thought indignantly to himself. Concerned enough to let go of the coffee issue.

"How am I supposed to know if I have a concussion? You slammed my head onto the pavement. Figure it out yourself," Leon muttered back, opening his eyes a little. He saw blue eyes staring back, but instead of the anger and annoyance he expected, he saw sincere worry. The worry spread through his face, softening the angry lines from before giving him a more youthful, innocent visage. Though it was simply a visage, and Leon knew the look was a visage, most likely the blonde concerned for some lawful action against him, nevertheless, Leon couldn't help but rethink his previous adamant thoughts.

A hand suddenly grabbed at his shoulder, trying to boost him up and Leon's thoughts prior flew out of his mind and the anger returned. Leon protested, trying to sit back down. The uneasy, swaying movements were intensifying his headache. He tried to thrust his arm back and away, but the blonde was adamant.

"Let go," Leon muttered, unable to let out a loud bark instead. He really had an itching to

just punch the blonde idiot who couldn't get a clue that he wanted to be left alone.

"You're just making it worse!" Leon yelled, not understanding why the blonde wouldn't just go away.

"I'm trying to get you inside, so they can check if you're okay--" the blonde admitted, trying to explain his actions. He was confused and he was frustrated. He didn't know what to do. These things just kept happening to him and he didn't know what to do, how to make the pain better—

The blonde was pulled from his thoughts by a harsh tug that threw him aside and against the wall of the hospital. He shut his eyes, almost expecting the brunet to hit him in the face, but no blow came. When he slowly opened his eyes, expecting cold eyes to stare back at him, he saw nothing, nobody. He looked down the road and saw a swaying, uneasy brunette heading back where he came. He was still holding his head with his hand and every other step he would unexpectedly lurch to the side, correct himself and continue.

The blonde watched open mouthed until, taking a quick second glance at the coffee shop, headed towards the brunet.

--

It was lunch break and Yuffie was slouched in a black leather chair, not staring into the mirror but instead down at the black wooden bureau top.

Yuffie still didn't know how she was to react towards Kairi's sudden employment. They would have to work together. Weeks previously Yuffie had only known her as the girl she saved in downtown Tokyo, the same one who almost got run over by a bus. What was she supposed to make of these circumstances she suddenly found herself in.

Though she was ready and willing to put the past behind her, she found the act hard to accomplish. Questions she squashed that night weeks ago resurfaced and she couldn't find the answers to any of them.

Why did she save Kairi?

It was the right thing to do?

Why did she do it without any thought, not even to her own safety?

She was a good person? It was a reflex? She cared?

She cared? About being good? About saving a girl? About..

…Kairi?

But she didn't even know Kairi! So, why did she do such a thing?

Then Sora's voice appeared, questioning her actions along with Selphie's voice, loud and high-pitched, concocting assumptions by twisting her words around. The voices swirled, never softening but as if they were the only voices she could hear. The voices hit her like a ton of bricks, warping her mind to believe that her actions were of a different nature, of a different reason.

"No, that's impossible, Yuffie. It can't be true." Yuffie slouched further, trying to convince herself. Her eyes rose from the spotless, black surface to the clean mirror in front of her, staring back into onyx, befuddled eyes.

"It can't be true. I shouldn't listen to them. Kairi's just… a girl I happen to know under total weird circumstances. That's all," Yuffie announced, letting out a breath of relief. She grabbed a stray bandanna on the black counter and slid it over her hair when she noticed a glint of amethyst reflecting in the mirror.

She swiftly turned around, expecting red hair and a soft smile, but only saw the chime swaying outside under the soft afternoon wind, a purple jewel welded at the heart of the bent metal structure.

Yuffie shook her head, baffled by her own imagination.

Kairi's a girl… Kairi's a girl…

She repeated the mantra in her head in hopes the murmuring voices beneath the surface of her mind would eventually wane.

--

A/N: There's chapter 3! Yay, that took 19 pages, the longest so far. I'm so sorry this is very late, and for my future infrequent updates. Also, this chapter is more like a bridge, that boring stuff that wraps up most of the introduction and leads further into the action, which I hope to get to soon. Very soon!

Some notes:

1. Materia, used in FFVII, where Yuffie comes from. Colored orbs, what's more to say?

2. No, I don't know Japanese, however they are in Tokyo, they have Japanese last names (not very significant) and thus they do speak Japanese. However, I'm writing them speaking in English because, well, I don't know Japanese well. Thus, I didn't get too far into that whole explanation, just from experience when people who speak English and have an American accent when speaking in another language.

Oh yeah, I hope you know **the blonde** is Cloud, but I just haven't been able to get both guys acquainted with each other, officially.

Also, for all you yuri fans, the YK/KY is going slow now, because, well, both girls are simply in denial. Ah, but that will change. Poor them. Also, this story has minor yaoi pairings—RS and LC, so they will be part of this story and appear sporadically, but they will not cut into the KY time!

Thanks for reading. Please Read and Review! Thanks!


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